


The Lunar Melody's Encore

by townshend



Category: Zero | Project Zero | Fatal Frame Series, Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen | Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
Genre: Canon Continuation, F/F, Gen, Misses Clause Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 01:54:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2833889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/townshend/pseuds/townshend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruka and Misaki return to the mainland, but Misaki takes a piece of Rougetsu Island back with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lunar Melody's Encore

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FireEye](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireEye/gifts).



The events on Rougetsu Island were finally over, and it was all thanks to Ruka.

Misaki had been surprised to see her - but when the doors to the underground chamber opened with a loud, echoing creak, it had stirred her somehow.

What had last happened? Misaki sat up, blearily, watching Ruka run towards her without really understanding why or how. Ruka kneeled beside her, pressed a hand to Misaki's face, and said something, but for a moment, Misaki was too dazed to hear her voice.

It wasn't until Ruka took her hand and started to pull her towards her feet and lead her out of the chamber that Misaki came to herself. She looked back into the chamber, and Miya was still lying there, and the shock of seeing that again so soon after remembering it jolted her fully awake. She jerked her hand away from Ruka's and rushed to pick up the doll.

_I can't leave you alone again here..._

And Miya was a part of her, wasn't she? That's what Sakuya had said. Misaki couldn't leave any part of her behind in this place.

Together, Ruka and Misaki (and Miya, in her arms) moved through the buildings until they reached the island shore they'd first arrived from. There was already a boat there - was it Ruka's? Misaki had been able to get a fisherman to take her and Madoka out on his boat after a little bartering with a promise to come back in the morning, but now Misaki couldn't really tell how long she'd been there. Had it really only been one night? And leaving without Madoka was...

"There's no one here," Misaki said, suddenly. She couldn't tell what she meant - was she talking about the fisherman? Madoka? Or was she talking about the lack of spirits? Ruka watched her expression for a moment, her lips pursed slightly.

"Misaki..." she said, slowly. "Maybe you were right about some things. Coming here... if we hadn't, I couldn't have finished the ritual. But..."

There was a lot unsaid there. But Ruka had said she'd finished the ritual. Had she really? Was that why everyone was gone, and the halls and rooms they'd passed through had been silent and empty? Was it why Misaki didn't feel compelled to stare up towards the moon that was inching its way through the sky to disappear for morning? Or had what Misaki had done to regain her memories eased the Luna Sedata syndrome?

"I want to go home," Misaki said, suddenly. Ruka nodded. It was a childish thing to say, but Misaki felt very childish in that moment. Her memories returning suddenly from ten years ago, and they way she felt drawn to hold on to Miya, all made her childish outburst seem appropriate. Ruka didn't mind. She stepped into the small motorboat, held out her hand to help Misaki aboard, and, once Misaki had settled, reached to untie the rope that had been keeping the boat moored to the dock.

Ruka seemed to know intuitively where she was going. They didn't speak during the boat ride back. Once they were docked back on the mainland, out of the boat, and Ruka had returned it to the man she'd borrowed it from, the two girls walked back towards the town's small train station together. Misaki gripped onto Miya, and Ruka didn't ask about it even though the doll looked unfamiliar to her.

It wasn't until they were seated on the train that Misaki spoke again.

"Ruka," she said, quietly. Ruka leaned forward minutely, trying desperately to beat back her own exhaustion.

They were in a strange position, here. Ruka felt as if she had a decision to make. In a way, it was Misaki's fault any of this had happened - after Tomoe and Marie had died, she'd wanted to come to Rougetsu Island even though both Ruka and Madoka found the idea unpleasant. Misaki had strong-armed Madoka into going, but Ruka had stayed out of it - until worry had compelled her otherwise. So many terrible things had happened - everything Ruka had experienced, everything she'd been forced to remember. Some of it had been good, but...

It would be easy to blame all of this on Misaki and turn away from her. Misaki was the last of the five of them... cutting this entire situation out of her life now, Ruka thought, would be easy - but could she really move on? She'd watched as all of the spirits lost in the Day Without Suffering had gone on, including Sakuya - but for her, and for Misaki, there was still life left to live and that meant they couldn't move on completely just yet.

It would be easy to abandon Misaki here, but Ruka didn't want to. They could always assign blame. They could go far back and blame this on Haibara You, for making them kanade in the first place - they could go back even further and blame any number of things. But would it help? Would it be worthwhile? Ruka thought that it was probably more important to be there for Misaki instead of pushing her away.

"What is it?" Ruka asked, finally, her voice just as low. Misaki was unmoving for a moment longer.

"Will you stay with me?" Misaki looked up, suddenly. Ruka couldn't help but think that seeing Misaki so vulnerable was rare. Normally she would demand, or forcefully suggest - so having Misaki quietly request anything threw her off for a moment, so she didn't answer right away. Misaki wet her lips and continued. "I want to hear everything. I want to tell you everything, too."

Just the thought was exhausting, but Ruka nodded. They were the only two left. Making sure the other was okay... that was their responsibility now, wasn't it?

 

 

Misaki's family was usually very busy, and so it wasn't surprising when they discovered the house empty when they returned. Her parents were away doing research into something, Misaki said, and her explanations were never any more detailed than that so Ruka didn't ask for more even though she was very curious.

"Something about that camera?" she asked, finally, after a silence that seemed to stretch into forever. When Misaki looked up at her, surprised, Ruka felt a little nervous. "There was that museum in Rougetsu Hall, and--"

"Maybe so," Misaki said, warily. "But they consider themselves scientists. It isn't very well-established, so they don't usually tell anybody about their research." Not even Misaki? That surprised Ruka a little bit.

"I guess we have to make lunch for ourselves, then," Ruka said, trying to smile.

After what they'd been through... Ruka was so exhausted, but she was beginning to feel a little hungry, too. There hadn't been any food on the island, and she wouldn't have eaten any there anyway.

For not having her parents in town, Misaki's cupboards were pretty well-stocked. Ruka had known Misaki for a long time, but she realized she'd never really been in Misaki's house for very long before. It was a strange feeling. And now... Misaki had said that she wanted to hear everything Ruka could tell her about what had happened, but Ruka wasn't sure where to start, or if it was even right to just suddenly start talking about it.

"We can make curry, if you want," Misaki said, and Ruka nodded. They opened cupboards and fridge doors together, finding beef, carrots, onions, potatoes, an apple - everything they needed - and silently got to work. Before Misaki picked up a knife to begin chopping their ingredients, she carefully set the doll she'd been carrying down so it had a vantage point of the entire kitchen area. Ruka watched her curiously.

"That doll," she said, as a way of starting conversation, and then stopped, because she didn't actually know what to say about it after all. "...Did it come from that place?"

"It was mine, before," Misaki said. She peeled carrots into a small bowl, concentrating on her work. "But that day... the day that the detective came and found us, I dropped her on the ground. She was important to me... Sakuya gave me that doll."

"Sakuya?" Ruka's tone jumped forward, the question not of confusion or not recognizing the name but rather of shock. "You mean--"

"You must have seen her there," Misaki said. "All of this happened because of that Bloom."

"It's over now," Ruka said, quietly. "Sakuya... she's finally peaceful."

Misaki wanted to know how - and so, as they cooked, the meal slowly coming together with Misaki's surprisingly expert guidance (even if she was a little bossy about it), Ruka explained everything that had happened.

Ruka found plates and the two ate together, both more hungry than they cared to admit. Misaki couldn't help but feel a slight guilt about it. After all the death and suffering she'd seen, how could she work up such an appetite? But reality continued on no matter what they'd witnessed, and there wasn't anything they could do about that.

As they did the dishes together, Misaki talked a little about Sakuya, and the memories she'd regained. Ruka told her that Sakuya's soul had been calmed, that the moonlight had soothed her with the help of the melody that had been missing from their ceremony. There had been several things wrong with their ceremony - the kanade had all been chosen randomly, hadn't had time to train or meditate, and certainly didn't feel "at one" with their masks. And Sakuya's mental state had been...

Misaki saw flashes of the memory of Sakuya's violence and tried to shut her eyes against them.

None of this was their fault. It wasn't Sakuya's fault, either. Sakuya would never have wanted this. Misaki found herself angry, upset that Sakuya had been so kind and gentle but became known as terrifying and merciless. She glanced at Miya, sitting on the kitchen shelf, and wished there was something she could do.

 

 

They found a spare futon in a hall closet and spread it out over Misaki's floor beside hers. Misaki had that doll (Miya, she said its name was) tucked in to the futon beside her, and Ruka knew better than to question that action. If it helped Misaki, it didn't matter how strange it was, right?

The lights in the house were off, but there was still some light filtering into Misaki's room through hanging blinds - light coming from a streetlight outside. They'd talked all day, about all kinds of things - but the whole time, they'd carefully avoided the subject of Madoka. Now, in the stillness of the dark room, Misaki whispered, "Ruka... what should we tell Madoka's parents?"

Ruka was caught off-guard by the question and didn't answer for a moment. She could feel her heart speed up in her chest. It was a feeling she'd gotten very familiar with in the past day - but this wasn't a ghost or an attack or anything like that. It was a discussion, a very serious one, about their friend. Madoka was dead, and nothing could change that.

"I don't know," Ruka said, quietly. It was true. Misaki wanted to rely on her - and Ruka wanted to be reliable. But she couldn't have the answers to everything. And... she couldn't be the strong one, not in every moment. Wouldn't it be better if they both supported each other? Wasn't Misaki putting too much responsibility on Ruka's shoulders? Didn't Ruka deserve a break, deserve to have someone being there for her? It had been Misaki's idea to--

Ruka stopped herself, suddenly, surprised with her dark thoughts. She swallowed, squeezing her eyes shut. Why was she thinking such awful things? She didn't truly feel that way, did she?

"Nobody will believe us if we tell the truth," Misaki said, bitterly. "Madoka shouldn't have come. I shouldn't have made her come."

It was quiet again. Ruka wasn't sure what to say. Eventually, she heard Misaki's breathing shift and even out, and it seemed she'd fallen asleep. It was easy for Ruka to do the same, even with the fear of nightmares - the running, the adrenaline, everything she'd been through had been enough to exhaust her. She could have slept hours ago.

 

 

When Ruka awoke again, it was still dark outside, and the streetlight still filtered in through the window. She stirred, slowly opening her eyes. She noticed that Misaki's futon was empty, the covers bunched at the bottom of the futon, and frowned, wondering if Misaki getting up to use the restroom had woken her.

But then, in the corner of her eye, she saw movement, and Ruka jumped, turning. Her hands moved to raise a camera that she didn't even have (it was still sitting downstairs on the kitchen table where she'd left it earlier) and she felt foolish for a moment before seeing a ghost.

It was a girl dressed in black, with short hair, standing just at Misaki's bedroom door. She looked over her shoulder at Ruka and passed through the door.

Ruka sat, staring at the door, quivering.

Was she dreaming? Was this real? She felt so awake, so alert - but how could there be more ghosts here? She'd never seen a ghost outside of Rougetsu Island. She'd never been sensitive before. How could this be happening?

Ruka thought of Misaki's empty futon and quickly got to her feet. She had to make sure Misaki was okay.

Creeping through the house, Ruka longed for her flashlight - turning the lights on didn't even occur to her. She called out Misaki's name, but there was no answer. She was about to head downstairs and check there when she noticed the hallway closet door was open, and things had been moved carelessly aside to create space to step on the closet shelf. Ruka approached the closet slowly, peering upwards. It was dark, but she could tell that someone had slid aside the panels of the closet ceiling and gone up into the attic.

Taking in a deep breath, Ruka climbed up onto the shelf and hoisted herself into the attic.

In Misaki's room, Ruka had had slight light coming in from the street, but up here in the attic, it was completely dark - except, Ruka noticed, for a small window on the far side of the closet that was open. There was a shadow there, climbing through, climbing up.

"Misaki!" Ruka rushed through the cramped attic, half-crouched, trying to reach the window. Climbing out of the window and up onto the roof seemed dangerous - Ruka had heard of advanced suffers of Luna Sedata Syndrome who had killed themselves trying to get a higher vantage point to the moon. But why was Misaki...?

Ruka stumbled in her rush, tripping, falling to the dusty attic floor. She felt fingers gripping around her ankle, and turned in horror, looking down at the figure at her feet, grasping her ankle. It was that same ghost, the one in black, but...

Somehow it looked like Sakuya. Somehow it looked like Misaki. Ruka stared for a moment, overcome by the strange sensation of feeling like she was looking at two people at once. Her mind could hardly comprehend it. After a second's hesitation, she quickly realized she had no method of defense - no camera, nothing - and began kicking, furiously, trying to scramble away and up off the floor.

By the time she managed and the spirit dissipated, Misaki was already out the window and gone.

Ruka gasped for breath.

Misaki had told her that doll was given to her by Sakuya. That it was a part of her. What if Misaki had meant that more literally? What if Sakuya really had put a part of her in that doll? It had been sealed in that chamber with Misaki, away from the moonlight, away from the outside completely. What if the lunar melody Ruka had played hadn't reached them there? Could it be that they hadn't been bathed by the moonlight that had been soothed by that music?

And there, sitting next to the attic window, was a small, thin black bag. Ruka recognized that bag - it was a recorder, from music class in grade school. Could she still remember how to play?

She had to try.

Grasping the bag, Ruka climbed up and out of the window, twisting around to grip onto the edge of the roof and pull herself up. Misaki was standing there, completely still, not turning or even noticing as Ruka struggled to climb up onto the roof.

She held the doll in one hand, and its spirit hovered beside her. Ruka felt Sakuya's presence and shuddered.

The wind was strong out here - Ruka wondered how she hadn't heard it clattering the windows and beating against the walls of Misaki's house. Her hair whipped around her face, her pajamas pulled against her skin. Would her notes even reach Misaki here? Or would they be lost in the wind?

"Misaki!" Ruka cried, again. Misaki stirred, just a little, but it was the spirit who really noticed Ruka's call. She turned, swooping forward, threatening. Ruka didn't have a camera to raise - so instead, she pulled open the bag and raised the recorder to her lips, blowing out a single note - the first note in the lunar melody.

The spirit suddenly stalled, surprised, her expression changing into one of confusion. Ruka continued to play, trying to keep the timing perfect. It was tempting to rush, to try to end all of this now - but she had to keep the rhythm right. It had to be perfect. Would it work, here, away from Rougestu Island, away from the tower and its organ? Ruka wasn't sure. But if this melody could calm the moonlight, could calm the syndrome... she had to try.

Then she would finally be finished.

The spirit moved forward, towards her, screaming out - but Ruka played on. The last note fell from the recorder, and Ruka played again.

This time, when the spirit moved towards her, she looked more like Sakuya, and less like Misaki - and she seemed to lift into the air, higher above them, beginning to glow. The wind was calming. Ruka heard a noise of surprise and fear to her right, and turned to see Misaki turned around, staring up at the spirit in shock.

And then, the light split into two, one part shooting up into the sky - the other floating towards Misaki, into her chest, glowing there for a moment before fading away.

Misaki passed out, and Ruka rushed to be there to catch her.

 

 

Misaki had never been in a hospital without her parents there before - but when she woke up, the face she saw at her bedside was Ruka's, not her mother's. There was a smell of sanitary cleanliness around her, and the gentle beeping and humming of machines and instruments - likely for other patients. She didn't seem hooked up to anything, just tucked in to a crisp white bed.

"Ruka..."

Ruka smiled, and Misaki realized someone was grasping her hand. She looked down. Ruka's fingers were entangled with hers.

Misaki smiled. "I caused you a lot of trouble."

Ruka shook her head. "It's okay-- it wasn't complete before. Everything is over now."

Was that true? Misaki frowned, thinking about it. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened to her - but Ruka could explain it later. For now... it didn't seem right to say it was over. All of what happened was still going to live on in them, right? They still had to deal with those things, right?

And... what had kept the five of them together, as friends, was this incident... and the continuing symptoms of the syndrome. If those things were all gone, would it mean they would move on without each other?

"It isn't over," Misaki said, stubbornly. Ruka looked surprised, then scared - but Misaki quickly continued, applying her bossy tone as best as she could with her slightly-weakened voice. "We can't forget everything and say it's behind us. But we can make a new beginning."

Ruka processed this for a moment, then smiled.

"You think I would stop talking to you because we finished it all?" she asked, and Misaki was a little embarrassed that Ruka had correctly deduced her thought process so quickly. "No, you're stuck with me."

Misaki wanted to have a sarcastic comeback, but she was too relieved to think of one. She smiled, genuinely, looking down at her lap. This situation was overwhelming - all of it being over was... hard to believe. It was hard to let it go. But with Ruka beside her, they could count on each other. Misaki had to go back to having that strong no-nonsense reputation, after all.

"Then we'd better apply to the same colleges," Misaki said, casually. "I hope your grades are good, because I want to go to Tokyo."

Ruka looked shocked, and then suddenly started laughing - the absurdity of the situation was too much for her. Misaki tried to play offended, but she quickly started laughing, too.

In that moment, Misaki was certain she could feel a warmth inside her, around her - reassurance from Marie, Tomoe, Madoka... even Sakuya. They were gone, but those sentiments and strong feelings still lingered. It would be hard, but the two of them really could build a new beginning together. Misaki squeezed Ruka's hand, basking in the glow of the positive energy around her. After what they'd experienced on the island... it felt like it had been a very long time since she'd felt any emotion like this.


End file.
